Is this the dreaded logic board problem?

Hello all
My iBook G4 has recently started having trouble. It will often go into a dark screen, where the caps lock light will go on and off but I can get no other response (though I can hold the power switch to force it to turn off). Often when turning it on, the fan comes on and the caps lock light responds, but I get no further - once in every few tries the laptop turns on.
When using the laptop, every once in a while it will suddenly flash vertical lines on the screen and go into that "half-off" mode; last night when left on for a time there was a loud crackling noise coming from the computer - I turned it off by removing the battery.
Am I looking at spending a day doing the famous shim job, or does this sound like a different problem?

Max,
Well, I was wrong on that one. Even I'm amazed how many people, using computers with different logic boards, are still having this problem. Though I have little sympathy for corporations parsing liability and responsibility, Apple's a small company to have such a potential recall. Want to do them a favor and fix it youself ?
Check my last post on Ollie.g's thread, below yours, titled 'total lockup... tried/answered previous suggestions'. If you can solder microjoints, examine all & do so; if not, use my post. You might be the first to try compressive heat sinks. I like the first, the second is for perfectionists aiming at specific pins, and the third is...well, experimental (and will likely need some expanding grease on the chip side, and expanding pads toward the cover).
My G3 iBook, which suffered this, booted only in single user mode. My damage was innocent, I believe--a system file written that was corrupted by a spark, or whose block was corrupted by a spark. If you can fix it using 'Disk Utility' from a DVD, it's the first. If not, it's the second and needs to be reinitialized (blocks marked bad again). The smiling face is new ( ! ) and must mean it found Mac OS 9: the question mark likely means it didn't find Mac OS X bootable.
Only Mac OS X is damaged, not your home folder. Copy or backup everything of value immediately using Mac OS 9. The iPod is the perfect backup medium, but your most precious items will likely fit onto CDs. Then there's the internet: Apple will sell you 2 Gb for over $100, or freeware will turn Goggle's free mail service into a 2 Gb disk.
Oh, read you backedup up last week. That is amazing. You must have a consultant, or be one. Nice work.
Bruce

Similar Messages

  • Continual logic board problems?

    I just had my third logic board replaced (on my ibook G3 dual usb) this week. It goes out every 13-14 months, like clock work. 2 (including the most recent) out of the 3 times apple has replaced it without fuss or charge. When I received the computer this last time, it booted up fine all of my data and programs were there, except the clock was set to 1969. I had backed everything up on an external hard drive, so I decided to do a clean install of tiger. Tiger installed and booted then I shut it down for the night. This a.m. the computer would not turn on. I tried removing the battery, leaving the battery in, unplugging from the power supply, standing on my head etc. nothing, no apple tone, no light, although the keyboard light is on. Question, what happened? I have not tried resetting the PMU but I am not sure that it will work b/c I cannot even get my computer to turn on....Any thoughts before I send it back to the depot.
    also, about the logic board replacement program....is the 3 year time frame a moving window? for example, i bought my ibook in 9-02 but my last logic board was replaced 2-06 is the 3 year time point at 9-05 or 2-09?
    any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
    Beckley
    ibook G3, dual 1.8 G5   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

    Your logic borard problem isn't the screen one then? I ask as I have exactly this machine (same RAM too!) and it has developed what sounds like an identical problem. It had its video fault logic board replaced 2 years ago but has been perfect since. Been used daily without a hitch. Then it just shut down without warning.
    Now, if you leave it a while (hrs) it boots. You can then run it for a while, typically 10-20 mins (long enough to drop a back up of all the data over a wireless network which all worked fine). The it just suddently and without warning goes to instant death. And will not power up again. Pressing pwoer key or trying the PMU reset produces no response at all. Battery is ahcrged and charging system works when it is running fine.
    This suggests a logic board problem but not the video one the free warranty covers. But you are saying yours has had this shut down problem repeatedly?
    It has the feeling of being a risk to invest in logic board replacement.

  • Problems after Replacing the Main Logic Board in E280R

    Hi
    I have just replaced the main logic board and FCal Disk Back plane in one of our E280Rs and now we cannot get any out put to a console (or to RSC card). So cannot get to the OK prompt or any diagonistic output. There are no errors according to the system lights although the RSC card is reporting faulty internal disks. Whether the disks or working or not we still should be be getting at least to the OK prompt.
    The main logic board has the same part number as the one we replaced and we swapped the old SEEPROM chip to the new main Logic board
    Any Suggestions greatfully received
    Thanks
    Rob

    LowLuster is correct.
    If Apple techs are talking about replacing the logic board, the costs of doing so is over half the cost of a newer IMac.
    You maybe better off, if it is financially possible for you, to purchase a new or "newer" used or refurbished iMac.

  • Logic Board Problem?

    Hey Everyone:
    I'm still a fairly new Apple user, coming from a world of DIY computer problems. Problem is, this nice compact ibook of mine prevents me from being able to do much on my own. I'm trying to solicit some advice as to what I can do about my current hardware issues.
    About 5 months after having my ibook I noticed white spots on my screen. I knew it would be repaired by Apple, but being the cheap SOB that I am I decided to put it off until the end of my 1 year warranty. I figured I could get everything fixed then, and avoid paying for the extended warranty. Well, I followed through with my plan, but I've noticed some new problems. I'm not too happy about this, but at least I realized these problems in time to extend the warranty.
    The Problems:
    -The first night I got it back, the computer completely froze! Everything working fine, and BAM! The screen looked fine but the entire system was locked up. Fortunately, this only happened twice that night, and I haven't seen it again.
    -Also that first night, the computer would not come out of sleep. It sounded like the hard drive would start spinning, and the flashing light would turn off, but the screen was completely blank. I would be forced to hard reboot, and then things worked better. This led me to a reinstall, but the problem still comes back every so often.
    -One day, I logged in to find that my clock had been reset to 12:00 and somewhere around 1960(?). I set the clock to the appropriate time, and have since realized this could be a PMU issue. I just reset the PMU a few minutes ago, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed this could solve the problems.
    -A couple of weeks ago, the computer would give the dreaded 3 beeps at startup. This seems to imply that OS X can't find the memory bus, but again this seemed to disappear as well.
    I'm looking for some help here. I'm afraid that the Genius bar will just ignore me, because I still can't find a way to reproduce my problems on a regular basis. Yet, the instability is driving me nutty, and I rely on my laptop to get almost all of my work done. Overall, I'm not very pleased with Apple's hardware work. Instead of replacing the entire screen casing, they only replaced the screen itself. That seems like a lot of work with a lot of potential to mess things up on my computer. What's with that farce of a bill that Apple used to convince me to renew my warranty saying that the screen cost $400? No way a screen costs that much, maybe the entire unit. Also, I lift up my keyboard and notice the Technician lost one of the screws. What kind of professional work is that, I ask you?
    Does anybody have any advice on how I can get help with these problems? I just want to get through these rough times while minimizing my inconveniences, and avoiding the potential loss of any data. I am making regular backups, I just don't like the idea that my laptop can die on me at any given time without any warning.
    Thanks!!!

    maciscool,
    That's a good guess, but maybe I wasn't clear enough. The only hardware changes are what Apple did when they replaced the screen. If the RAM is faulty, then it is something they damaged, because everything worked fine before I handed my ibook over to the Genius Bar. I ran memtest, and the Apple Diagnostics CD a few times, and I don't get any errors.
    I'm more curious as to how people knew they had Logic Board Problems, and how did they prove this to Apple. As I see it, a problem such as this would either be disastrous or unpredictabe, that latter being much harder to prove to the retailer.

  • DC In Board or Logic Board problem?

    I have a 12" iBook G4 that's about 2 years old. It's been having intermittent problems reading the charger for awhile now and would flash charging and then not charging over and over again before it would begin to charge up again. This weekend it decided to stop reading the charger completely. The battery works fine in another computer and another battery works fine in it -- it just won't charge again once it loses it's juice.
    It also will not work with just the power adapter plugged in with no battery. The little light comes on, but doesn't seem to pump power into the computer. And it's not an issue with the charger as it charges our other iBook just fine.
    I've read conflicting info elsewhere about what it actually could be so I'm hoping someone could shed some light. Does it sound like just a DC In Board problem? Or a bigger Logic Board problem? Any help would be great... thanks!

    From what I have read on this forum, people have managed to get the DC In Board replaced for a little over US $100. This would be at an Apple authorized repair shop rather than by Apple itself. This is much less than the cost of a new MacBook. I don't know what might be available in your area, but it would be worth asking at a repair shop.
    Good luck!

  • IBook G4 (Jun 2005 model) Logic Board Problem (No Display and HDD noise)

    Hello All
    I have been using my iBook G4 (1.2 GHz) with no problems since I purchased it in June 05. But over the past 2 days, I have been noticing this weird incident of "no display" when booted and I was hearing a loud fan noise at times and I can hear my HDD spinning etc. When I tried to restart pressing CTRL+OPTION and POWER after shutting it down, it booted up but reverted my PMU to a date in 2001 (resetting all my email, music etc). But when I tried shutting it down again and restarted normally, I heard the bootup chime but no display. Again, I could hear the fan and the HDD spinning.
    I took my laptop to the Apple Store here in Boca, FL today and was told that its a logic board problem.
    I know there was a Logic Board Repair Initiative from Apple for the G3's and early G4's. Does anyone know such a thing for the fairly recent iBook G4's??.
    Any help is immensely appreciated.
    Thanks
    Karthik
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    iBook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    How do I verify that my issue is a logic board issue. Recently, computer froze. Tried a hard reboot but no luck. It either shows a blank blue screen or I'll get the grey screen and apple with the start-up spinner but it'll stop spinning.
    That's it. I'm able to browse the contents of the iBook's harddrive when I connect it to my Ti Powerbook via Target Disk mode. I even lauched Disk Utility from the powerbook and verified the iBook's drive and it found no problems.
    Could it be the same logic board issues that you guys are having? How do I verify this? Is it worth paying to repair an 800mhz G4 iBook (applecare expired April '06)?
    I've heard about kernal panic issues with the macbooks so I'm apprehensive about getting one of those right now too. Getting frustrated. Actually considered copping an inexpensive PC laptop... ugghhh.

  • How can I differentiate logic board problem from display problem?

    I have been given an iBook G3 900MHz (one of the models known to have logic board issues.) When I boot it up, I get the Apple chime, the hard drive spins, and the caps lock and num lock lights light up. Sometimes the display comes on, sometimes it does not. When it does, it flickers and goes off and on. I don't get lines or pixels or anything that I have seen described as being indicative of logic board failure. As far as I can tell, the computer works fine otherwise.
    So, how can I be sure the problem is logic board-related and not an issue with the inverter board or the display cable?
    I was also wondering, how much trouble - if any - is Apple giving people about replacing logic boards on certain models of iBook? This one should be eligible, as its serial number falls in the right range and it was bought in Oct. '03, which was within the past three years.
    Thanks!

    there was a period when the display showed colored lines and pixels
    Classic logic board symptoms.
    The iBook freezes a lot
    Mine did, too, with the logic board problem.
    my gut tells me the problem is logic board-related.
    My gut tells me your gut is probably right.
    My question about repair coverage is this: According to Apple's support site, where I entered the serial number, this computer's "estimated purchase date" was October 3, 2003. But the owner no longer has any actual proof of purchase; no receipt, no packing slip, nothing. Is that needed to have Apple replace the logic board?
    No. As I said, I bought mine, used, on eBay. I called in when I recognized the logic board symptoms (I had been working these boards for over a year at that point), they sent a box. It went out on Wednesday. They got it, fixed it, and shipped it back to me on Thursday, and it was back in my hands on Friday. (Practice makes perfect, I guess.)
    Also, does Apple make their determination of age from when the computer was purchased or when it was built?
    Purchase date only.
    Or does that decision depend on if a person can produce a receipt or not?
    Nope. The only paperwork I sent in with mine was the slip Apple sent in the box to indicate what all I was sending them (adapter, battery, extra RAM). What good would an eBay seller's receipt have done?
    I probably have to go to my local service center (in NY that's a place called Tekserve, which is a great place to get a computer fixed, but the wait to be seen averages over an hour!)
    Don't mess around with Tekserve. Call Apple at the number listed on the FAQ page:
    http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/
    Thanks again for your input. I appreciate it.

  • RAM upgrade MBP 7.1 fail.  Only stock RAM works.  Logic board problem?

    pulling my hair out here. 
    I have recently uprgraded my mid 2010 mbp to mountain lion and thought i would upgrade as much as i could but ran straight into frustration town.
    after a full day trying 8 different types and amounts of RAM, my MBP will only boot to a useable state with the stock ram it came with. 
    I made an appointment with a 'genius' at the apple store (the annoyance of having to call a condescending punk a genius is just too much to handle) and had said 'genius' disappear with my mbp for a half hour or so.  Once he returns he tells me it is logic board problem and 'boy you aren't going to like the price of the repair'.  F'n' right, genius!
    My question is this:
    would a faulty logic board allow the stock ram to work but NOTHING else?
    secondary question:  anyone else notice a slowing down of operations with mountain lion?

    In your original post I got the impression that your MBP worked with the original RAM.  Apparently that was a misconception on my part.  My suggestions are to first run an Apple Hardware Test and see what clues, if any it offers:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
    You may have to start it by holding OPTION D.
    Next I suggest that you look over this user tip document and follow the procedures that apply to your MBP and OS:
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353
    Kappy may have some additional ideas.
    Ciao.

  • Can my Late 2009 24" iMac's video card be replaced without replacing the entire logic board?

    Can someone help me determine if my video card is built onto the logic board on my Late 2009 Intel 3.06 mhz 24" iMac?  The video shows corruption (checkered blocks) with a progress bar at the bottom of the screen, then it reboots in a cycle.
    According to similar problems found on the web, I'm failry sure that the VRAM is corrupt.  Apple Tech support had me do a reset on the PRAM and that only changed the direction of the corrupt pixels on my display.  I also ran the Apple hardware diagnostic program that came with the iMac 3 times and it found no problems (from what I could tell squinting through my corrupt display).  The S/N is W891507C250.
    Thank you,
    Will W.

    I appreciate your reply and you are correct about it being an Early 2009 iMac.
    But I'm not sure that you are correct that all Early 2009 iMac's do not have seperate video cards though.  You may be, but according to other sources on the net (such as the link below) claim that some Early 2009 24" iMac models with certain video cards (i.e. NVidia, which I have in mine) are replaceable without replacing the entire logic board.
    Again your feedback is appreciated, but I was kind of hoping for an Apple employee or at least an Apple Support Forum Admin to give me an official answer.
    http://ifixit-guide-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/guide_13765_en.pdf
    Thank again,
    Will W.

  • How to find and replace the main logic board on HP4600N Laser Printer.

    Can anyone let me know how to replace the main logic board on my HP Laser 4600 N.  My printer was freezing up and in calling customer service, they informed me that the main logic board is going bad.  Now I have the part but no instructions on how to replace or where to find it on the printer. 

    A Google search may turn up a downloadable service manual for the Laserjet 4600.
    You might also ask in the HP Enterprise Business Community Forum here.
    Bob Headrick,  HP Expert
    I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.
    If your problem is solved please click the "Accept as Solution" button ------------V
    If my answer was helpful please click the "Thumbs Up" to say "Thank You"--V

  • Does the new logic board in the macbook 13 fit the 2010 model

    hey everyone, it would be great if i could find an answer to this and i think it might be negative, but it's worth a shot.
    i was wondering if the logic board on the i5 or i7 on the macbook pro would be able to fit on the 2010 model of the macbook pro. 
    Currently I'm running the latest version of lion which is 10.7.2 with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 8 gigs of ram.  I just upgraded the ram because even with just basic processing it was running more than max capacity with 4 gigs.  To me that's absolutely insane seeing as that it was just resting.
    I understand that the new logic board has the thunderbolt capability and that that port would be inaccessable to the current outfit that my body has as of right now.
    I guess I'm just wondering if the board would still line up with the 2010 macbook pro model as far as the USB and other ports go.
    p.s. if the apple community could rise up maybe and tell apple to release a free upgrade to the new system saying "OUR BAD, SORRY FOR THE PROCESSOR SCREW UP" that would be great. because i know so many people that have complained just like the windows vista users did
    PLEASE FIX THE SCREW UP THAT WAS MADE WITH LION. I LOVE THE IDEA OF IT, BUT CAN'T STAND THE LAG AND HAVING TO REPAIR THE PERMISSIONS AND THE DISK ONCE PER MONTH.
    oh yea, and if you haven't done that to improve the speed of your mac yet, do it, because it really does work. there are some forums throughout here that explain the details

    Hi g,
    In my mind, there is only one thing to do, and that is to bring it back to wherever you had the repairs done and have them fix it correctly under warranty. You should not have to pay for more repairs unless they can clearly demonstrate to you that there have been three completely separate issues which needed three different repairs.

  • Need help finding the right logic board.

    So after months of work, I've come to the conclusion that I've fried it. So I'm pursuit of getting running, I was wondering if anyone could help me find the right logic board. Well, here are my original stats:
    iMac G3 Blondi Blue
    Tray Loading
    233 MHz
    32 MB RAM
    6 GB HD
    Here a few photos. I think it's one of the very first ones:
    http://webideas.com/images/imac/imacback_bberrysm.jpg
    http://img.mercadolibre.com.pe/jm/img?s=MPE&f=1363553_8198.jpg&v=P
    I deeply apreciate the help! Thanks!

    Never mind. I have found one. Thanks!

  • 2006 Mac Pro corrupting the disk - possible logic board problem?

    Hi there.
    I bought a faulty MP (2006) that wouldn't install an OSX. It would install to a point and then fail or install fully then not boot. Apparently this happened shortly after a 10.5.8 update failed mid way. The seller told me how it seemed to corrupt hard disks placed into it. How he diagnosed this I don't know.
    I bought it and did a fresh 10.6 install on a formatted disk in my other 2006 mac pro. Then swapped the disk into the faulty mac pro. Everything seemed fine. Booted up and seemed to work fine.
    Upon trying to install itunes 9 I had all sorts of issues (which I've read about). Upon doing a disk check in disk utility it seems the disk has loads of errors, imcomplete nodes/trees etc. Repairing the disk isn't working (in the OS as well as booting from the DVD).
    Has anyone encountered anything like this? It seems the disk is getting corrupted by something or other. Hardware tests check out fine.
    Could this be a problem on the Logic board?
    Thanks

    One thing I did notice that I thought was odd was on the grey boot screen a small empty progress bar appears for a second or two and then vanishes. Sure this is the same progress bar that appears on an efi update etc.... not sure it's connected

  • Does this sound like a logic board problem?  Blue screen

    I have a G4 1.33GHz iBook 14". Recently it has started having problems with freezing and booting. It will boot normally, but a few seconds or minutes into use, if freezes, and only a force shutdown with the power button will work. Then, when it restarts, it may run fine, or may freeze up. Sometimes when it boots, the apple logo shows up, then the spinning wheel, then a light blue screen. And then, nothing.
    I have tried all the usual stuff, including starting with the 10.4 DVD and running disk utility. Also Onyx and version 3.03 of Disk Warrior. It wouldn't boot from the Disk Warrior CD usually, and the one time it did, if froze up.
    SO, I ended up booting it in Firewire Target Disk mode, and reformatting (zero'd out) using my MacBook. Then, reinstalled the 10.4 and upgraded to 10.4.7 using Software Update. It worked fine for about two hours, and then started freezing and blue screening again.
    Does this sound like a logic board thing? It just occurred to me that I haven't tried all this stuff with my additional 1 Gb stick of RAM out. It hasn't caused any problems before, but I suppose it might affect this, no?
    Sorry for the long post, but I want to try to diagnose and fix BEFORE it goes off to Apple to be returned with a "we can't demonstrate the problem" message and a bill.
    Thanks
    Roger

    I took out the 1 Gb stick and it did the same thing. About half the time it boots, works for a little while then freezes up. The rest of the time it won't boot past the spinning wheel then the blue screen. Same deal with the OSX DVD and the DiskWarrior CD.
    Frustrating. I may have to send it in.
    RDS

  • Repeated logic board problems

    Hi,
    I purchased a new ibookG4 in August and it has experienced logic board failures twice since then. In October it started having kernel panics and randomly shutting down so I sent it in to Apple and they kept it for a month! I've had it back now since Nov and yesterday it starting having the exact same random kernel panics. I took it to the apple store and they shipped it out again. I've tried my best to be patient but Apple (the genuises, customer relations) are very dismissive of my concerns that I have recieved a lemon. They act as though it is perfectly normal for a customer to be without her brand new computer for months at a time.
    Sorry for the rant but does anyone have any advice on how to handle this kind of situation? I've had Macs all of my life and this is the first time one has ever had a problem.
    Thanks
    Christine
    Ibook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
    powerbook 15 1.25ghz   Mac OS X (10.2.x)  

    You should call the AppleCare Support number, but ask to be connected to Apple Customer Relations. Be friendly and firm with them. Be well prepared with all the dates and case numbers for all the service your iBook has had. Let them know you're having trouble again and you're about to call AppleCare Support or take your iBook in to the store. Have a specific request for Apple Customer Relations, for example, let them know that if you have trouble again after this repair, you'll expect a replacement. There's no guarantee they'll agree to this, but at least your trouble has been recorded by them. If you do have trouble again, you'll be able to refer to this conversation and your expectations.
    -Doug

Maybe you are looking for